Fact Check: Did the National Debt Double Under Obama?

President Donald Trump claimed Feb. 15 that former President Barack Obama “put on more debt on this country than every president in the history of our country combined.” . . .

Patrick Newton, a spokesperson for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget . . . pointed out that the debt was already projected to increase before Obama assumed office. Robert Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, a group that advocates for fiscal responsibility, made the same point, citing federal spending on baby boomers as one example. “During Obama’s first term, the baby boomer generation begin[s] to qualify for full Social Security benefits and Medicare at age 65. Spending on these programs went up as more beneficiaries began to qualify for benefits,” he told The DCNF in an email.